Process of coloring pineapples.



L. E. ARNOLD.

PROCESS 0F COLORING PINEAPPLES.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.27, 1911.

1,046,716.. Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

iii

- ing or aperture 7 by means of tion,

LEWIS E. ARNOLD, or nononunu, 'rnnnrronr or HAWAII.

x y PROCESS 0F COLORING PINEASPPLES.-

1,046,716. original application ined April a, 1910',

To all lwhom it may concern.:

Be ii known that I, LEWIS E. ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Honolulu, county of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Colorlng Pineapples; and I do hereby declare the following to be a'ull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it' appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the treatment of food products, as described in my applica- Ser. No. of which the present application is a d1v1- sion. i

The invention has special reference to the treatment of pineapples, in which application the process has been found' to be of great commercial importance. l-Piheapples are canned in large quantities, and the improved process lends itself readilyand with marked advantage to the treatment of pineapples that are to be placed on-the market in this form. By the present process alpineapple of alight color and not fully ripe may be turned to a yellow or golden color and sweetened in a remarkably short time, after which it will have the appearance and properties of a fully matured luscious pineapple. In this case, already peeled fruit, which does not need to undergo any pre-- liminary treatment, is treated with a suitable syrup which may, for example, consist of refined cane sugar and water, with which the pores or cells of the fruit are illed in the manner to be hereinafter described.

In the accompanying. drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical central section of va simple arrangement for carrying out the improved process, and Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawing 5 is a container o en at the top and illustrated as consisting o an ordinary sheet metal can body, although containers of various kinds may be used. Temporarily applied to the top of the container 5 is a cap which is of greater cross sectional area than the container, which it overhangs at the peripheral portion of the cap', as shown in Fig. 1. rI`he ca 6 is provided, preferably at its center, witI an openwhich, when the container is sealed by the cap, communlcation canbe had with vthe interior of'the lbe operated by 553,039, filed April 2, 1an),v

4large area, its peri hery be of air.

,v Specification of Letters Patent. `Paieeillilgekl D'e, 10, 1912-,

serial No. 553,039. Divided and tmsappiicatiorr` mea 1mi-ch a?, 1911. .-seria1no.s17 ,1ss. e L Y container. A pipe 8 :having oppositely rected lateral branches 9,10 is screwed int) Y the top of the cap, as indicated at 11, in

position to communicate with the opening 7.

The branch 9 of this pipe 1s provided with a suitable controlling cock 12 adapted to a handle 13, while the branch 10 1s provided with a similar cock 14 having a handle 15. The branch 9 is connected by a clip 16 with a tube 17, whichmay be flexible, and the branch 10 is connected by a rslmilar cli 18 with a similar tube 19.

cate with sources of vacuum and spectively, and in the embodiment shown, the tube 17 is intended to convey a suitable fluid medium, such as syrup, to the container, while theV tube 19 is intended to be connected with a suitable air exhausting device.

The cap -6 rests on thecontainer to by means of a suitable gasket 20, preferab y of rubber, which lies against the' under surface of the cap and around the openingx, which latter is preferabl formed in a suitably thickened or hubike portion' 21. At its peri heral portion, thegasket may be held 1n ace 1n a suitable groove 22 of the cap, an said'. gasket may the enlarged portionl 21, as shown. The nut 23 preferably extends over a comparatively arranged in close proximity to e upper ge of the container. When the cap 1s placed on the container in the manner shown, the nut- 23 extends down into the container to a slight extent, but suiiicientl to prevent the container from colla sing w en the same is exhausted ith this construction, the gasket 20 is eiectively held in tight joint may be easily formed between the upper edge of the container and Asaid gasket. In order to facilitate access to all parts of -the container the lower surfaces of the huby like portion 21 and of the nut 23 are preferably provided with alined radial grooves ,In carrying out the process, the pineapple is placed in the container 5, which is then temporarily sealed by the cap 6, which 4should beheld down on the container to suchy an extent as to form an air-tight joint, as above explained. .Inl the drawing, I have be tightly clamped be#V tween the under surface'of the cap and a nutv 23 which is of thin fiat shape and screws Qn These two tu es are` intended to communiiuid replace andan air After the syrup supply is cut o 5 in the manner previously indicated, in

which case the tube 17 is connected with a receptacle filled with ,a suitable sugar solution. The cock 12 being closed, the cock 14 will be opened when the container is tightly sealed, and hence the container wil be placed in communication with the exhaustlng device so that it will be exhausted of air. The container is subjected to the action ,of the vacuum, which should beequivalent to about 28 inches of mercury, for

about 45 seconds, iand in this time the con-- tainer will not only be exhausted of air -and any other gases that may be in the same, but the air or gas in the pores, cells or interstices of the fruit is removed from the latter and from the container. If a glass container is used, bubbles may be observed coming out of the cells and interstices of the fruit durvacuum connection is closed, by suitably manipulating the cock 14, syrup is admitted to the evacuated container'by opening the cock 12, which will permit'the syrup to flow into the container by 'wa of the opening 7 in an obvious manner. Wing to theevacuated condition of the container and of the fruit therein, the container will be filled im.- mediately with the syrup, which will ass into the cells or pores of the fruit and thoroughl impregnate the latten The fruit wil then immediately undergo the desired change in color (turning a golden yellow) and its flavor will be remarkabl improved. by suitable ing this stage of the operation. After the manipulation of the cock 12, the cap may be removed from the container,which is then ready for ermanent capping or any other o peration esired. It has not been estabhshed whether or not the immediate change in the fruit thus treatedA (particularly 1n colorl is due to a chemical change in the fruit itself. The change in color is almost instantaneous after the lsyrup is admitted, but it can hardly be due to the su ar solution, which in itself is colorless. this solutioimust enter thc cells of the fruit and remain permanently therein, in orderto give the fruit the desired sweetness and' f course.

flavor. I t makes no change, however, in the.

color of fruit which is yellow before treatment,

` It is obvious that numerous changes in the apparatus and in the minor details of the process itself may be 'adopted without dev parting from the scope of the invention .as defined in the claim.

What I claim is QA process for lcoloring light colored pineapple which comprises sealing the peeled pineapple in a suitable container', evacuating the container to withdraw the air or gases from all the pores or cells of the fruit and admitting to e evacuated container a syrup of refined cane sugar and waterwhich enters all the pores orcells of the pineapple and s o affects its properties as to immediately change the color of the pineapple. In testimon whereof I ahx my signature, in presence o two witnesses. y

A LEWIS E. ARNOLD. Witnesses:

Ro'r. J. PRATT, HrrG. GrNAcA. 

